Band of brothers

While all the attention will focus on 29 Cork hurlers today, John Allens backroom staff has created the ideal environment for them to prosper

Joe O’Leary was given an induction to the Cork management late in 2004. Na Piarsaigh had won the county championship, which entitled them to a place on the selection committee. The club was anxious for O’Leary or Bill Kelleher to go forward but neither man wanted to commit himself to the unknown.

O’Leary had known the manager John Allen for 30 years and he asked for a “10-minute meeting”. An hour and a half later O’Leary left with a Polaroid image of the big picture.

Five minutes into his debriefing Kelleher had heard enough. “Look Joe,” he said, “I have a business and a wife. I’d lose both of them.” At O’Leary’s first formal meeting with Allen and the other selectors more than 40 jobs were listed and divided out: yours for the year.